poetry

“…to be merry best becomes you; for out of question, you were born in a merry hour. “ – Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 1 It's become a bit of a tradition the last few years for me to share this poem around January 1st. Each time, a different bit stands out for me, helping …

Because the Life of the River is Longer than Mine (click title to hear poem) No Burial (click title to hear poem) Last weekend I participated in the Arts al Fresco event as part of Riverfest 2012 celebrating the life of the Assabet, Sudbury, and Concord rivers in Eastern Massachusetts. I was one of six poets affiliated …

My newly engaged songwriter circuits are still buzzing and humming from the weekend. On Saturday, my song "In the Spirit of this Place", the first piece that I've written all the words AND music for, was debuted by the Voices for the Earth Chorus at the Musketaquid Earth Day Celebration River Ceremony in Concord, Massachusetts. …

I have had a remarkable number of joyous, inspiring, creative conversations through this weekend of the New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (NESCBWI) spring conference in Dr. Seuss' hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts. And a theme developed, a thread running bright and true through disparate discussions: We are the guardians of story. It …

Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday. It is amazing and astonishing that any of us, Theodore Geisel included, gets born when we do, into the circumstances that we do. We are the creative product of a clash of chaotic coincidences – ancestors re-locating, parents meeting, all the whos and wheres of who we turn out to …

I know it hurts. And you'd rather it didn't. Someone else got published. You're happy for them, sort of. You want to be happy for them, really. But you'd rather it had been you. After all, haven't you been working at it? Didn't you get that MFA, attend the conferences, go to workshops, network with …

I write this at the end of Valentine's Day. A day when Facebook, Twitter, and my email inbox tossed love poems toward me with all the romantic recklessness of winter running arms open toward spring. What I noticed was not how they may or may not have illuminated the experience of love. What I …

“...to be merry best becomes you; for out of question, you were born in a merry hour. “ – Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 1 TO BE MERRY BEST BECOMES YOU >click to listen to audio recording of the poem To Be Merry Best Becomes You A laugh unexpected, a thought unrejected - open-hearted, open-minded, with …

I tried to fit all the goodness into a tweet, but my sentence-squashing skills failed me. Here's the good-deed-of-the-day opportunity that I love:Choose terrific books for kids that the inspiring creative kids who attend the 826Boston writing and tutoring programs will use and love, buy then at Harvard Bookshop (or online via their website) and not …

That hurt. The rejection - from others or from yourself. The feeling of not coming up to scratch. The frustration of thinking a piece was finished and instead, seeing so many holes in it, so many problems. Maybe it's not even a viable project. And you've put so much time and energy and thought into …